5 Reasons Why You Should Choose a Design-Build Firm for Your Million-Dollar Project

Pare down the problems of high-end construction by optimizing the process.

Things move to the next level of complication when your building budget brushes past seven figures. The cost alone puts delays and mistakes beyond a mere inconvenience. They can make or break you. It’s one of the top reasons why the design-build process has become the preferred method for million-dollar-plus projects.

Design-bid-build used to be the preferred delivery method. No one argues that it worked. But as the owner, you had to juggle two contracts, and it was your job to play peacemaker between your designer and the building contractor. Design-build has taught us that bringing in builders at the start of the process results in better results all around. Here are the top five benefits:

1. Cost savings

Two heads are better than one right from the start. That’s really the gist of using a design-build firm. Builders bring a level of knowledge that complements the architects and designers. Builders can weigh in on constructability and cost concerns. And as the owner, you benefit from a team approach that optimizes the value of your million-dollar investment. Design decisions are validated and costly mistakes caught by an experienced builder are kept to a minimum, if they even happen at all. There’s no longer any reason to separate the jobs of designing and contracting. A consolidated approach to construction saves time and money.

2. Just one contract

Design-build generates a single point of agreement between the owner and the design-build firm. The firm represents a team that’s responsible for meeting the owner’s objectives. The team approach from the start yields impressive results:

Delivery time is reduced

Construction time is faster

Costs are reduced

Much of what used to fall on the shoulders of the owner is shifted to the design-build firm, which now manages estimates, schematics, and logistics.

3. A cohesive team approach creates a better finished product

Will this million-dollar project be completed exactly as you envisioned it? It’ll end up much closer when you engage a design-build firm. That’s because you’re compressing the complexities that are often a part of the old process, which forced you, as the owner, to be responsible for juggling the two crucial relationships required to make it happen.

In traditional construction, you first have to find and work closely with a design firm or an architect. Then, you’ll have to shepherd this existing relationship as you search for and bring on the contractor. Will this new entity, brought later into the process, mesh well with the designer? Both the design firm and the contractor are going to have workers, too. Suddenly, that’s a lot of people you’ll have to make sure all work well together.

Design-build ensures that these important relationships are in place right from the start, and the team approach creates deep levels of trust and transparency. Common scenarios that cause cost overruns and delays are avoided.

4. Far less mental “wear and tear”

A building budget above the million-dollar mark means you have the ability to employ complex design and construction processes. Stop for a moment and think about it. Does it make any sense at all to keep the contractor out of the picture until after the design is done? The value of top builders lies in the experience they possess.

The pairing of these two principals alone should be sufficient reason to give a hard look at bringing on a design-build firm for your project.

Those who’ve gone this route will also tell you that it saves wear and tear on your nerves. Without the team effort approach, you’re the one who has to find acceptable compromises between design and construction. It makes more sense to remove the frustration and go with the collaborative approach.

5. ROI on value-driven best practices

Ever wonder what happened to those gorgeous concept designs you see at car shows? Why doesn’t what you see end up on the road? Often, it’s because the design works perfectly as a concept, but it’s not practical or even possible to manufacture.

You can carry this analogy over to your upcoming building project. A designer can take your vision and turn it onto blueprints. In theory, it can be constructed. But, now you’re asking someone who had no input on the design to bid on and then build it. It’s not an intuitive approach.

Design-build is leading the way as the chosen method for higher-end construction projects. This collaborative approach gives you a higher return on your investment.

When you’re ready to build your high-value project, contact Telesco Construction at 305.390.0250 or info@telescoconstruction.com. We are a full-service, design-build firm, providing every component of each project in house, without the need for separate entities, vendors or contracts. Our unique “all under one roof” business model means that you get a diverse and highly-skilled team dedicated to delivering exactly what you envision, without headaches, overruns, and management of multiple contractors.